I made another red dress today with what remained of the cheap red fabric I used in Making a red dress experiment 1 part 1. I guess this sort of looks more like a hospital gown than a dress; but this is the kind of thing I wear around my apartment. Roomy kaftan style dresses, maxi skirts worn as dresses–that sort of thing. Without the belt this dress looks like a shapeless solid red kaftan made out of cheap cotton. But for lounging around the house on a dismal evening while under the influence of the depressing midwest winter I would wear this dress.

This dress was pretty easy to make. All I had to do was take a length of fabric double the desired length of the dress and fold it in half to create the front and back of the dress. At the top crease where the fabric is folded in two, I cut a hole for the neck. Then made a bit of a neckline on one side to differentiate the front from the back and that was it. I could have left it un-sewn and just relied on the belt or on pins to fasten; but I decided to go ahead and sew it.

How it looked before sewing

It actually looks better before I sewed it I think. Especially the neckline. I think I forgot how I had tucked the neckline and so I sewed it according to how it was cut instead of how I had tucked it while it was on the mannequin. As for the sleeves they are rolled up in these pictures but not rolled up in the pictures I took after I sewed the dress together. I’m not sure if I like it better with the sleeves rolled up or with them hanging down.

Before sewing and without the belt

In this state it most resembles a long hospital gown. But it’s a lounge dress. It’s for those days when you just don’t want to care how you look and you want to cover up your body and disappear into your tent. In this case your tent is your dress.